Thread: Time for Boeing to admit defeat..?

Hmm... There are reports that Boeing/NASA will bring the Starliner capsule back next month..... empty. Her crew, oth, will have to wait until February to come home... in a SpaceX Dragon. If true, this will be a PR disaster of epic proportions for Boeing. Like they needed another one.

Originally Posted by Tins

Hmm... There are reports that Boeing/NASA will bring the Starliner capsule back next month..... empty. Her crew, oth, will have to wait until February to come home... in a SpaceX Dragon. If true, this will be a PR disaster of epic proportions for Boeing. Like they needed another one.

That was announced and confirmed days ago. Very embarrassing for Boeing.

As was pointed out a couple of weeks ago, I think, the majority of those making the final decision within NASA, which is where the final decision was made, were working for NASA at the time and involved at least peripherally in the two shuttle disasters - and they do not want to go there again.

While returning the astronauts in a Space X capsule is a bad look for Boeing - its not as bad as the look would be (for both Boeing and NASA ) if the spacecraft with astronauts were to be destroyed during return. They have a spacecraft which is now known to have a definite, specific issue with the attitude jets overheating and resultant valve failures causing jet failure. If this happens when orienting the spacecraft for the re-entry of the burn, the spacecraft would probably be lost. While the odds of this happening are not known accurately, NASA have obviously decided that it is a risk they do not want to take, especially since there is a viable alternative.

What I don't understand is why NASA does not have a backup unit just in case this sort of thing happens - what if the issue was much more serious and the crew had to came back now.

It will not be until next year that the next SpaceX vessel is available - I would have thought NASA would have commissioned either Boeing or SpaceX to have a backup always available.

There is a backup available, for exactly this reason. There is a Dragon capsule docked at the space station (And, I think, also a Soyuz), specifically for this purpose. It is not designed to evacuate the full number, but probably could in an emergency.

Must admit, I'd like the idea of a lifeboat.

I wonder if anyone is taking bets on the Boeing capsule crashing and burning.
I'd be putting money on it not having a survivable landing. If that happens the spin doctors will say they did it on purpose for some undisclosed technical reason.

There is an excellent chance of that happening as about 1/3 of the thrusters are not working and they need them to slow for re-entry. They have calculated it might work but then again it might not - hence no passengers for the return trip.